Correction: Foreclosure properties are not related to resort

February 17, 2013

TUPPER LAKE - Three properties under foreclosure notice from Franklin County are not part of the Adirondack Club and Resort, contrary to what the Enterprise reported Saturday.

The Enterprise was mistaken about the name of the limited liability company that owns the marina attached to the resort. The foreclosed-on properties are owned by an LLC called Big Tupper Lake Marina LLC, while the ACR's marina nearby is owned by a company called Tupper Lake Boat Club LLC.

It's difficult to tell from county records who owns the foreclosed-upon Big Tupper Lake Marina LLC. The tax records for it are sent to a post office box in Tupper Lake. Tax records for Tupper Lake Boat Club LLC are sent to ACR lead developer Michael Foxman's address in Elverson, Pa.

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The ACR is made up of a web of ownership companies. According to a state Adirondack Park Agency interpretation of the LLCs, there are two managing entities, Caldera Big Tupper LLC and Oxbow Preserve LLC, plus a controlling entity called Tupper Lake Preserve LLC. Then there are several offshoots: Knotbill LLC, Hotelsite LLC, Big Tupper LLC, Preserve Associates LLC and Tupper Lake Boat Club LLC.

Between Preserve Associates and Big Tupper, the development group owes $77,660.60 in taxes from 2011 and 2012, but those properties are not being foreclosed on. Franklin County last week foreclosed on properties that haven't paid their 2008 taxes.

The Enterprise could not determine Sunday the status of the Big Tupper Boat Club LLC's tax payments, due to the county treasurer's office being closed for the weekend.

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When the Enterprise discussed the mistake with Foxman by phone Sunday morning, he said he wasn't so much concerned about that as he was about the Enterprise reporting about his colleague Tom Lawson's personal finances. Lawson's home is under foreclosure due to missed mortgage payments, and Foxman said it was out of line for the Enterprise to publish that information.

"Tom has done an awful lot for that community," Foxman said. "For you to jump over his personal finances, I think, is wrong and reprehensible."

He argued that it's irrelevant to the project, saying that although Lawson has contributed money to the ACR in the past, he's not expected to contribute any in the future.

"He's a working partner," Foxman said. "He's not the financial partner."

That means, Foxman argued, that Lawson's personal finances have nothing to do with the success or failure of the business. Foxman said environmentalists and opponents to the project are trying to spread bad information about Lawson to discourage investors.

He argued that Lawson has been part of successful developments in the Caribbean, and people like him have to manage their money right now because there isn't a lot of cash flowing in the real estate market.

"Most of the people I know in real estate are tight and are managing money and are putting off some debts and paying others, because that's what they have to do in a market where there are no buyers and no lenders," Foxman said. "That's about the same as saying there are clouds in the sky. So what?"

Foxman also took issue with the Enterprise quoting him as saying, "I can't talk to you," when asked about the foreclosure. He was on the way out the door and didn't have time to talk, but he said the Enterprise story made it sound like he was hiding something.